Event Details and Market Reaction
Monero(XMR) experienced an unprecedented 18-block reorganization on September 14, 2025, after the Qubic mining pool temporarily gained majority hashrate control. This allowed the pool to reverse 117 transactions, marking the largest rollback in Monero’s history. Sergey Ivancheglo, IOTA co-founder, referred to the incident as a “stress test,” a framing that influenced how the event was perceived.
Despite the clear threat to network integrity, XMR’s price increased by approximately 5.5%, trading around $300 during the event. Market capitalization held between $6.16 billion and $6.33 billion, indicating resilient investor confidence even amid security concerns.
Security, Regulatory, and Operational Implications
The reorganization exposed concrete risks, including the potential for double spends due to reversed transactions. It also revealed vulnerabilities in Monero’s RandomX mining algorithm, which was specifically designed to prevent ASIC dominance and hashrate centralization.
Regulatory attention may intensify following this event. Monero’s privacy features have already led to its delisting on certain exchanges, and this incident could accelerate scrutiny toward privacy coins broadly.
For traders and institutions, the price surge amid a security crisis suggests speculative behavior rather than fundamental confidence. Treasury managers and allocators are advised to reinforce custody protocols, review exposure limits, and implement stronger transaction reconciliation measures in response to chain stability risks.
The event underscores the need for continuous security audits and stress testing even in well established networks. While Monero’s market response was unexpectedly positive, the structural risks revealed warrant caution and proactive risk management moving forward.
